Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
Yuval Avnur
Reader 2
Gabbrielle Johnson
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
2023 Chigozie N Obiegbu
Abstract
In this thesis I develop an approach to hermeneutical justice that is both preemptive and dynamic. I introduce Miranda Fricker’s work on hermeneutical injustice as well as her proposal of hermeneutical justice as a corrective, mitigating virtue. I argue that a successful response to cases of hermeneutical injustice must be preemptive in that it addresses the structural errors in our conceptual resources instead of merely shifting how listeners interact with marginalized epistemic agents. Using Ian Hacking’s Dynamic Nominalism as a framework I argue further that in addition to being preemptive, a good approach to hermeneutical justice must also take into consideration the dynamic interchange between conceptual resources and social reality. Therefore, it cannot measure success in terms of accuracy of representation between conceptual resources and social reality. Instead, a fruitful strategy toward hermeneutical justice must be forward-looking, by considering how new conceptual resources create new social realities.
Recommended Citation
Obiegbu, Chigozie, "Hermeneutical Injustice and Dynamic Nominalism" (2023). Scripps Senior Theses. 2110.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2110
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
